Skip to main content
Back to path

Welcome to a Grasp lesson

Create a free account to keep studying and create your own study path.

Lesson 46

Comparing with Comparatives

Recommended resources

Bonjour! Welcome to your next French lesson.

In our last lesson, we focused on expressing nuance by giving advice with devoir and il faut. Today, we'll continue to add detail and precision to your language skills by learning how to make comparisons. This is an essential skill that you'll use constantly in professional, academic, and casual conversations—whether you're comparing job offers, research findings, or just weekend plans.

Our goal for this lesson is to learn how to use comparatives (plus/moins/aussi...que) to compare people, things, and actions. We will break this down into a clear, structured system that you can apply to any situation.

1. The Three Types of Comparison

In French, as in English, there are three basic ways to compare two items:

  • Superiority: more than (plus...que)
  • Inferiority: less than (moins...que)
  • Equality: as...as (aussi...que)

The exact structure depends on whether you are comparing qualities (using adjectives/adverbs), quantities (using nouns), or actions (using verbs). Let's start with the most common type: comparing with adjectives and adverbs.

To get a feel for how these work in practice, let's begin with a video.

Practise your French Comparatives -"Plus que, moins que, aussi que"

The video 'Practise your French Comparatives' from the 'Learn French With Alexa' channel provides a great introduction to the basic comparative structures.

Please watch from 00:54 to 05:14. Pay attention to how the presenter builds sentences for superiority (plus...que), inferiority (moins...que), and equality (aussi...que) using adjectives. Notice the contrast she draws with English grammar (e.g., you can't just add '-er' to an adjective in French).

2. The Grammar of Comparison: A Systematic Approach

As the video showed, the core idea is to place a comparative word before an adjective or adverb, and que after it. However, the structure changes slightly for nouns and verbs. The best way to learn this is to break it down by what you are comparing.

We will use the excellent article from Lawless French as our main guide. It organizes the rules very clearly.

Comparative adverbs

The article 'Comparative adverbs' from Lawless French systematically explains how to form comparisons. We will go through it section by section.

First, please read the introduction and the sections titled 'Comparing Adjectives' and 'Comparing Adverbs'. These sections cover the structures for comparing the qualities of people and things, and for comparing actions.

Comparing with Adjectives and Adverbs

As you've just read, the structure for both adjectives and adverbs is the same. Remember that adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe, while adverbs are invariable.

  • Structure: plus / moins / aussi + adjective/adverb + que

Examples:

  • Comparing people (adjective): Le nouveau manager est **plus sympathique que** l'ancien. (The new manager is nicer than the old one.)
  • Comparing things (adjective): Cette tâche est **moins compliquée que** la précédente. (This task is less complicated than the previous one.)
  • Comparing actions (adverb): Elle parle **aussi couramment** français **qu'**anglais. (She speaks French as fluently as English.)
    • Note the elision: que becomes qu' before a vowel.
Test your understanding!

Translate the following sentences into French:

  1. This report is more detailed than the other one. (détaillé)
  2. He works less efficiently than his colleague. (efficacement)
  3. I am as busy as you. (occupé)
Show answer
  1. Ce rapport est **plus détaillé que** l'autre.
  2. Il travaille **moins efficacement que** son collègue.
  3. Je suis **aussi occupé que** toi. (Remember to use stressed pronouns like toi, moi, lui after que.)

3. Comparing Nouns and Verbs

Now let's look at how to compare quantities of things (nouns) and the frequency or intensity of actions (verbs). The structures are slightly different here, so pay close attention.

Let's return to our guide.

Comparative adverbs

Now, let's continue with the Lawless French article to learn the rules for nouns and verbs.

Please read the next two sections: 'Comparing Nouns' and 'Comparing Verbs'. Focus on the key differences in the formulas: the addition of 'de' for nouns, and a different word for equality with nouns and verbs ('autant').

Here is a summary of these crucial structures. This is a very helpful reference.

French Comparatives Table
This table clearly lays out the four main comparative structures for nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, covering superiority, inferiority, and equality.

Comparing Nouns (Quantities)

Notice the use of de and autant for equality.

  • Structure: plus de / moins de / autant de + noun + que

Examples:

  • Cette entreprise a **plus d'**opportunités **que** la mienne. (This company has more opportunities than mine.)
  • Vous avez **moins de** temps **que** nous pour finir le projet. (You have less time than us to finish the project.)
  • Il y a **autant de** femmes **que** d'hommes dans notre équipe. (There are as many women as men on our team.)

Comparing Verbs (Actions)

Here, the comparative word comes after the verb, and we use autant again for equality.

  • Structure: verb + plus que / moins que / autant que

Examples:

  • Je travaille **plus que** lui. (I work more than he does.)
  • Elle étudie **moins qu'**avant. (She studies less than before.)
  • Il parle **autant que** son patron. (He talks as much as his boss.)

4. Comparisons in a Professional Context

Your goal is to use French in professional settings. Let's look at some examples related specifically to the workplace.

Les comparatifs : les situations de travail

This resource provides excellent examples of comparatives used in professional situations.

Study the table at the top of the page. Notice how the examples relate to work, such as comparing skills ('aussi compétente que'), salary ('moins payé que'), and workload ('plus de personnes').

Using these structures will allow you to discuss performance, workload, and job characteristics with greater precision. For example, during a job search, you could think: Ce poste offre **plus d'**avantages, mais l'autre est **plus intéressant**. (This position offers more benefits, but the other one is more interesting.)

Test your understanding!

Choose the correct structure to complete these sentences related to a professional environment.

  1. Mon collègue a __________ (more experience than) moi.

    • a) plus expérience que
    • b) plus d'expérience que
    • c) plus que expérience

  2. Le directeur parle __________ (less than) ses employés.

    • a) moins que
    • b) moins de
    • c) aussi que

  3. Ce projet est __________ (as difficult as) le précédent.

    • a) autant difficile que
    • b) aussi de difficile que
    • c) aussi difficile que
Show answer
  1. b) plus d'expérience que. We are comparing a noun (expérience), so we need the structure plus de ... que.
  2. a) moins que. We are comparing the action of a verb (parler), so we use verbe + moins que.
  3. c) aussi difficile que. We are comparing an adjective (difficile), so the structure is aussi ... que.

Conclusion

Excellent work today! You have learned a fundamental and versatile grammatical tool. Making comparisons is key to expressing opinions, analyzing situations, and describing the world around you in a more nuanced way.

Key Takeaways:

  • Superiority: plus ... que
  • Inferiority: moins ... que
  • Equality: aussi ... que or autant ... que

Remember the four distinct patterns:

  1. Adjective: plus/moins/aussi intelligent que
  2. Adverb: plus/moins/aussi vite que
  3. Noun: plus de/moins de/autant de travail que
  4. Verb: (il travaille) plus que/moins que/autant que

Next Lesson Preview:

Now that you can say something is "more interesting than" something else, the next logical step is to be able to say it is "the most interesting." In our next lesson, we will build directly on today's topic by learning how to use superlatives (le/la/les plus/moins...) to make comparisons to the highest or lowest degree.

À bientôt !